Alex Rawnsley's inside look at the BCHL's Powell River Kings

Findlater’s 1st, But Kings Fall 5-4 in OT

Powell River product Hunter Findlater notched his 1st BCHL goal, a huge one to tie the game late in the 3rd period at 4, however the Kings dropped their 5th overtime game of the season in a 5-4 score to the Alberni Valley Bulldogs on Sunday afternoon.

About time for Hunter Findlater, and I don’t mean that as a knock on the rookie Powell River-ite. He’s a player who has skated well since he joined the Kings as an AP last season ‘for good’ during the playoffs after his season in Nanaimo ended. After an adjustment period to start the season he’s looked increasingly comfortable over the last couple of weeks as like many other Kings rookies (Nonis and Sandberg come to mind), he’s taken 10-15 games to get set and up to speed of the Junior A game. Hunter’s goal on Sunday was a good wrister from the slot in a crucial moment of the game and hopefully the first of many for him. In talking to him after the game, the only thing he’d change would be for it to happen at the Hap Parker Arena…..that’ll come.

Overall another close, exciting game between these two clubs who showed why they’re so close in the standings. The 3rd game of the season series and the 3rd time a 2-goal lead has disappeared as Alberni got out to 4-2 before Kurt Keats and Findlater notched goals a minute apart to tie it up at 4. In previous games, 2-0 and 3-1 leads were had by Powell River and Alberni respectively and on those occasions those teams ended up losing those games. Alberni’s OT winner bucked that trend somewhat.

Stefan Wornig worked well for the most part in his first start since late September. He’s been on the wrong side of 3 overtime decisions now which is obviously disappointing, but he can be happy with his he performed on Sunday. Outside of a weak one 5-hole in the 2nd period, Wornig was confident and aggressive and looked ‘game ready’ despite having only 1 full practice before the weekend and getting told of the start after warm-up. It snaps a streak of 14-straight starts for Brett Magnus, a stretch that was that long for 3 reasons…a) the Kings wanting to get Magnus ‘on a roll’, b) Wornig’s injury, c) Magnus’ play over the last couple of weeks.

Kurt Keats notched his 17th goal of the season to put the Kings within 1 in the 3rd period. How many ‘big’ goals has he scored this season? Goals to get the Kings back into hockey games, or goals to give the Kings insurance and wins. He’s yet to get a nod by the BCHL for his play in the weekly/monthly awards, however he’s arguably been the Kings most consistent player and one of the league’s top performers this season.

JJ Coleshaw left the game in the 1st period on Sunday after a big hit along the boards. The hit took advantage of Coleshaw in a vulnerable position but wasn’t your typical dirty hit. From video it looked like the primary contact was in the upper chest/shoulder area with a glance up high that left Coleshaw a little worse for wear. The Kings will likely be without their captain for a few games as a result.

Sunday was Stephen Hiff’s 2nd multi-goal game in the BCHL. The 1st came in his rookie season against Victoria where he also notched a pair.

The Kings drop their 2nd game in a row where they score the first goal. It’s the 6th straight game the Kings have scored first and their record is now 7-3-0-3 when that happens but two straight losses make those number look a little less flattering. It’s still the lead after 40 that has been a huge indicator of success for this team, undefeated when up through 2.

Here what Brock Sawyer had to say in our post-game show:

Three Stars of the Game

Evan Tironese (Bulldogs) – 1 goal, 2 assists

Drew Blackmun (Bulldogs) – 2 assists

Stephen Hiff (Kings) – 2 goals

The Kings get a chance right back at the Bulldogs on Tuesday afternoon in Powell River for a special Remembrance Day game. All the info for that one is below: